Today is my day off and since I ran and swam hard yesterday (yes, I'm bragging and I ain't apologizing for it), I feel pretty darn good today. I did walk to class this morning (30 mins each way) so I'm not a total couch potato but will probably be sitting on my butt for a good 6 hrs so it really is a day off (and it feels so good!).
So, how 'bout a nutrition tip? Since I am now a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (fancy name for sports dietitian), I thought I'd throw in a few here on my blog.
Topic today will be vitamin D. This is a "hot" topic in the nutrition world and as I was walking home today under cloudy skies, I was recalling what I learned from Michael Hollick, vitamin D researcher at some ivy league school back east "it is impossible to get enough vitamin D from the sun if you live north of Texas from November through February, even if you are outside naked for 8 hrs each day".
Well, I'm not planning on joining any nudist camps but want to make sure I get enough vitamin D. There are two ways of doing that: drinking 4 cups of milk each day or taking a supplement. I do both.
I am very skeptical about nutritional supplements because most of them are unnecessary. But one of the few supps I take is vitamin D (1000 IUs). There is intriguing research showing that vit D may not only prevent colon and breast cancer and diabetes (yes, I said cancer), but may play a role in maintaining the integrity of skeletal muscles as well. This is good news for triathletes.
Researchers have found that muscle cells have receptors for vitamin D, although no one really knows why....but if they're there, there must be a reason that muscles need vitamin D. More on this later.
So, I do pop a vit D supp everyday and you should too if you A) live north of Texas or B) do not drink 4 cups of milk each day and/or C) have no intention of being naked outside for 8 hrs each day (or maybe you do but you should still drink your milk).
So, back to work...more on nutrition later.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
I did a brick!
Just a quick note to say that I ended up running a great tempo run after my swim today - woo hoo! Felt really strong. Ran for an hour and did three 10-minute "reps" of near all-out running. I can hardly walk now but that's ok (isn't what Celebrex is for?), I'm psyched that I could run that well.
Plus, now I can take tomorrow off and feel good about it. Cool!
Plus, now I can take tomorrow off and feel good about it. Cool!
Oh, my achin' arms!
Well, today is Monday and you know what that means: Master's swim practice. I sure hope I get faster swim times this year because these workouts are killin' me!
Today I woke up 10 mins late but managed to get to the pool by 6:10. Warmed up with 200 free, 200 pull, and was supposed to do 200 kick but Richard started the workout before I could get it done. Richard Hess is our swim coach. He usually saunters in around 6:20 and writes the workout on the board. We start the session off with a "joke of the day" (which could easily be my swim times) and then the main set (aka, killer workout).
Being a long time distance runner (which means I'm a swimmer wanna-be), I still get nervous for Master's swim. It just doesn't come naturally to me and I'm always working harder than everyone else. I'm clearly the slowest swimmer (even with fins on) and although I don't worry about it as much andymore, its hard not to notice when I'm the only one finishing a set when everyone else waiting for me.
This is what we did today:
6 x 125's, with #2, 4, and 6 faster than the others
8 x 75's, descending
4 easy 50's
6 50 kick set
and there was more but I didn't finish the workout.
I did the 125's and 75's pretty much all out. I had to, in order to keep up. I did the first half of the 125's free but then used my pull buoy for the rest, which I've been told is similar to wearing a wetsuit. I used my fins on all of the 75's. But I've noticed that fins don't always help - my lower body tends to sink when I wear fins, whereas I stay "up" with the pull buoy (or whatever that thingy is called).
And I was swimming next to Sarah, who is coming back from an injury and she's NOT signed up for Master's, I ended up talking with her after the 75's and that was part of the reason for not finishing the workout. But I don't think I could've done the 4 "easy" 50's anyway. My arms were dead.
So, I'm driving home wondering if I should really push myself to finish the workouts or take the approach that it is still early in the season and that half of a Master's workout is hard enough...that I don't need to do all of it and I'm risking an injury if I do too much too soon. My race isn't until November and if I start swimming hard now, I may burn out and/or get injured.
Or is that just a rationalization for not doing the whole workout???
I do have one other good reason, though, for doing only half the workout: I need to run today because I can't tomorrow. So I need to save my energy for running.....and believe me, it IS hard to run when you've worked your arms and shoulders so hard that they ache.
Today I'm only running 3-4 easy miles with Daisy. I came home to see the kids off to school (Kurt was here for once and had them up and ready to go - so nice when he's here!) so I just needed to eat breakfast. I made oatmeal with peanut butter and skim milk - yummy! I'll wait for 90 mins and then go run. Nice way to start the day.
Tonight I'm spending the night at our church (Room at the Inn program for homeless families) and have to teach tomorrow AM so its good to workout hard today since I'll do nada tomorrow. Maybe by then my achin' arms will be back to normal!
Today I woke up 10 mins late but managed to get to the pool by 6:10. Warmed up with 200 free, 200 pull, and was supposed to do 200 kick but Richard started the workout before I could get it done. Richard Hess is our swim coach. He usually saunters in around 6:20 and writes the workout on the board. We start the session off with a "joke of the day" (which could easily be my swim times) and then the main set (aka, killer workout).
Being a long time distance runner (which means I'm a swimmer wanna-be), I still get nervous for Master's swim. It just doesn't come naturally to me and I'm always working harder than everyone else. I'm clearly the slowest swimmer (even with fins on) and although I don't worry about it as much andymore, its hard not to notice when I'm the only one finishing a set when everyone else waiting for me.
This is what we did today:
6 x 125's, with #2, 4, and 6 faster than the others
8 x 75's, descending
4 easy 50's
6 50 kick set
and there was more but I didn't finish the workout.
I did the 125's and 75's pretty much all out. I had to, in order to keep up. I did the first half of the 125's free but then used my pull buoy for the rest, which I've been told is similar to wearing a wetsuit. I used my fins on all of the 75's. But I've noticed that fins don't always help - my lower body tends to sink when I wear fins, whereas I stay "up" with the pull buoy (or whatever that thingy is called).
And I was swimming next to Sarah, who is coming back from an injury and she's NOT signed up for Master's, I ended up talking with her after the 75's and that was part of the reason for not finishing the workout. But I don't think I could've done the 4 "easy" 50's anyway. My arms were dead.
So, I'm driving home wondering if I should really push myself to finish the workouts or take the approach that it is still early in the season and that half of a Master's workout is hard enough...that I don't need to do all of it and I'm risking an injury if I do too much too soon. My race isn't until November and if I start swimming hard now, I may burn out and/or get injured.
Or is that just a rationalization for not doing the whole workout???
I do have one other good reason, though, for doing only half the workout: I need to run today because I can't tomorrow. So I need to save my energy for running.....and believe me, it IS hard to run when you've worked your arms and shoulders so hard that they ache.
Today I'm only running 3-4 easy miles with Daisy. I came home to see the kids off to school (Kurt was here for once and had them up and ready to go - so nice when he's here!) so I just needed to eat breakfast. I made oatmeal with peanut butter and skim milk - yummy! I'll wait for 90 mins and then go run. Nice way to start the day.
Tonight I'm spending the night at our church (Room at the Inn program for homeless families) and have to teach tomorrow AM so its good to workout hard today since I'll do nada tomorrow. Maybe by then my achin' arms will be back to normal!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Better Day Today
Tomorrow we're having work done in our basement, which means I can't ride my trainer, so I rode today. The good news is that I wasn't sore at all today and managed to eek out 45 mins of hard spinning. Felt great, actually. Did one of my Spinerval tapes again - #28, Aero Builder - same one I mentioned here a few weeks ago. Only had time for two sets but was working pretty hard. Yay!
Will lift later today and swim tomorrow AM.
Last night was our annual triathlon club "Christmas" party (we always have our Christmas party in January). I had volunteered to make a video if someone would show me how. Kevin was kind enough to come over and get me started and I spent the last few days working on it. It came out pretty good, I thought, and was really fun to do. When we get it up on our site, I'll post a link here.
Had a fun time at the party. We have a great group of people in our club. No one is too serious about it and we all have jobs and lives that take precedence over triathlons. But we train hard and have a fun time together.
The cool thing is that Kevin, who knows how to weld, makes these really cool awards for people who do 1/2 Ironman distance and full Ironman distance. The 1/2 IM trophy is literally half of the Ironman logo, in steel. I'll post a picture later. The IM trophy is, of course, the full logo. I was a proud recipient of the full trophy last night! I finally feel like I have arrived - now that i have that trophy! Forget the IM finisher's medal, I now have an official, hand-made IM trophy made my Kevin Magee in Greeley, CO!
Will lift later today and swim tomorrow AM.
Last night was our annual triathlon club "Christmas" party (we always have our Christmas party in January). I had volunteered to make a video if someone would show me how. Kevin was kind enough to come over and get me started and I spent the last few days working on it. It came out pretty good, I thought, and was really fun to do. When we get it up on our site, I'll post a link here.
Had a fun time at the party. We have a great group of people in our club. No one is too serious about it and we all have jobs and lives that take precedence over triathlons. But we train hard and have a fun time together.
The cool thing is that Kevin, who knows how to weld, makes these really cool awards for people who do 1/2 Ironman distance and full Ironman distance. The 1/2 IM trophy is literally half of the Ironman logo, in steel. I'll post a picture later. The IM trophy is, of course, the full logo. I was a proud recipient of the full trophy last night! I finally feel like I have arrived - now that i have that trophy! Forget the IM finisher's medal, I now have an official, hand-made IM trophy made my Kevin Magee in Greeley, CO!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Stumped
Why is it that I've been running consistently for 25 yrs now (seriously) with a long run almost every single weekend over that time, 12 marathons, one Ironman, numerous triathlons, and I'm sore after running a measly little 9 miles.
Is this a natural consequence of aging or is it the price I pay for sittin' on my butt for the last two days? Don't answer that.
So, I took some Celebrex and that helps, but I have a ton of housework to do and my body hurts all over. Maybe it's the Hannah Montana music in the background that is putting me in a bad mood (I have two 8 yr olds at home, you know).
Yes, I'm glad that I ran and I had fun with my friends (see above). But gosh darn it, can't I run a long run without it feeling like I just climbed Capital Peak all over again? And if I'm this sore after 9 measly miles, how the heck am I going to propel my body over 140.6 miles again?
Yes, I AM whining! Its my party and I'll....oh, just turned on the TV...seeing pictures of Haiti...ok, I'll shut up. Case closed. Off to do more housework....
Friday, January 22, 2010
Funny Friday
Well, today was downright funny. I had planned on doing a Spinerval tape this morning but I had a lot of work to do (for the class I teach at Univ of Northern CO) so decided to get my work done first, then hop on the trainer. And I did....and that's good...but it was almost lunchtime so I got hungry and stopped after 10 mins.
So, why is that funny? Well, I am a sports dietitian and you'd think I know better. But that's ok, I thought I'll just ride later but later never came and here I sit, drinking beer, and blogging away! I'm laughing because a few months ago, before the Ironman, I would've FREAKED OUT that I hadn't done my precious little workout. But now, I'm so over it (as my daughter would say) and I'm LOVING the fact that I'm not officially "in training" yet. Woo hoo!
Plus, the older I get, the more I notice how 2 days off feels much better than 1 day off (I took yesterday off too - what a hoot!). Hmmm....can I train for an Ironman with only 3 days of training each week? OK, I'm dreaming...
So, I'll get back on the bandwagon tomorrow. I think there's a 10 mile group run scheduled and as soon as I finish savoring this lovely Blue Moon, I'll call someone to find out where and when we're running.
Aaaahhhhh, I'm lovin' not being on a training schedule yet!
So, why is that funny? Well, I am a sports dietitian and you'd think I know better. But that's ok, I thought I'll just ride later but later never came and here I sit, drinking beer, and blogging away! I'm laughing because a few months ago, before the Ironman, I would've FREAKED OUT that I hadn't done my precious little workout. But now, I'm so over it (as my daughter would say) and I'm LOVING the fact that I'm not officially "in training" yet. Woo hoo!
Plus, the older I get, the more I notice how 2 days off feels much better than 1 day off (I took yesterday off too - what a hoot!). Hmmm....can I train for an Ironman with only 3 days of training each week? OK, I'm dreaming...
So, I'll get back on the bandwagon tomorrow. I think there's a 10 mile group run scheduled and as soon as I finish savoring this lovely Blue Moon, I'll call someone to find out where and when we're running.
Aaaahhhhh, I'm lovin' not being on a training schedule yet!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Master's Swim: The Ultimate Humbling Experience
Well, today was another chance to test my "mental strength" and positive-thinking skills. I had the dubious honor of sharing a lane at the pool with Natalie this morning. I'll just use her first name so as not to embarrass her (as if she would read my blog anyway!).
Everyone in our Master's swim class knows Natalie. No, she's not some former collegiate rockstar swimmer....in fact, I don't think she's ever swam competitively at all. But she should have because she's amazingly fast and never out of breath.
If she weren't so gosh darn nice, we'd all hate her. But Natalie is one of the sweetest, quietest people I know. She's a joy to be around and I was honored to share a lane with her today.
I have to mention that Natalie has 8 children. Yes, you read right. She had 6 boys the old-fashioned way and then she and her husband decided to adopt. They adopted one beautiful little girl and are in the process of adopting another. Being an adoptive mom myself, I admire anyone who has SIX boys at home (yes, they're all at home, ages 8 - 16) and then decides to add two more to the mix. She's way cool in book!
So, today I was in the lane first by myself warming up, feeling pretty frisky, and there goes someone right by me. Whoever it is is swimming so fast, she's already lapped me once. Its gotta be Natalie, and it is.
At first I don't worry about it but as I start to swim faster and find that I still can't keep up with her, I start to wonder how in the world I'm ever going to swim 2.4 miles nonstop in Arizona in under 2 hours (ok, I know I already swam that distance in Florida in 1:18 but still...I felt like a drunk turtle next to Natalie!).
Just gotta shrug it off. She's always quick to remind me that I could run circles around her (her words, not mine) and that "we're all different". Yes, but I still would love to swim even half as fast as Natalie can.
So, today we warmed up with 150 free, 150 pull, 150 kick, and 150 choice. I did the first three sets and then Richard started the main set: 4 x 150's with the 2nd and 4th being faster; then 4 100's descending (the last one being the fastest) and there was more but I had to leave at 7:00 to get the kids to school on time (oh darn, I have to leave!).
I'm out of the pool at 7:00, home by 7:20; get the kids up, fed, and off to school (Kurt was at work early today), stopped by to see my mom and came home to go for a run.
Left the house at 9:20 and jogged slow for 10 mins. It was colder than I thought it would be and the sky was grey. I wore my Ipod and let myself settle into a good rhythm. I love my weekday solo runs - I just let my mind go and run without thinking too much about anything.
I tried picking up the pace but must admit, it feels weird after a hard swim. I don't know why that is, to be honest. My arms and shoulders are tired from the swim but you'd think that it wouldn't affect the legs. Yet, I felt slow and awkward at first. I finally loosened up and pushed the pace. I ran several several pick-ups and then one long 10 minute tempo run.
When I got back home I felt like I could've pushed a little harder or gone farther but that's ok. Right now, I want to hold back just a little. I don't want to go all out yet. It's too early.
So not a bad workout today: hard swim and good run. I may not be the fastest swimmer but as long as I keep showing up, it's alright with me.
Everyone in our Master's swim class knows Natalie. No, she's not some former collegiate rockstar swimmer....in fact, I don't think she's ever swam competitively at all. But she should have because she's amazingly fast and never out of breath.
If she weren't so gosh darn nice, we'd all hate her. But Natalie is one of the sweetest, quietest people I know. She's a joy to be around and I was honored to share a lane with her today.
I have to mention that Natalie has 8 children. Yes, you read right. She had 6 boys the old-fashioned way and then she and her husband decided to adopt. They adopted one beautiful little girl and are in the process of adopting another. Being an adoptive mom myself, I admire anyone who has SIX boys at home (yes, they're all at home, ages 8 - 16) and then decides to add two more to the mix. She's way cool in book!
So, today I was in the lane first by myself warming up, feeling pretty frisky, and there goes someone right by me. Whoever it is is swimming so fast, she's already lapped me once. Its gotta be Natalie, and it is.
At first I don't worry about it but as I start to swim faster and find that I still can't keep up with her, I start to wonder how in the world I'm ever going to swim 2.4 miles nonstop in Arizona in under 2 hours (ok, I know I already swam that distance in Florida in 1:18 but still...I felt like a drunk turtle next to Natalie!).
Just gotta shrug it off. She's always quick to remind me that I could run circles around her (her words, not mine) and that "we're all different". Yes, but I still would love to swim even half as fast as Natalie can.
So, today we warmed up with 150 free, 150 pull, 150 kick, and 150 choice. I did the first three sets and then Richard started the main set: 4 x 150's with the 2nd and 4th being faster; then 4 100's descending (the last one being the fastest) and there was more but I had to leave at 7:00 to get the kids to school on time (oh darn, I have to leave!).
I'm out of the pool at 7:00, home by 7:20; get the kids up, fed, and off to school (Kurt was at work early today), stopped by to see my mom and came home to go for a run.
Left the house at 9:20 and jogged slow for 10 mins. It was colder than I thought it would be and the sky was grey. I wore my Ipod and let myself settle into a good rhythm. I love my weekday solo runs - I just let my mind go and run without thinking too much about anything.
I tried picking up the pace but must admit, it feels weird after a hard swim. I don't know why that is, to be honest. My arms and shoulders are tired from the swim but you'd think that it wouldn't affect the legs. Yet, I felt slow and awkward at first. I finally loosened up and pushed the pace. I ran several several pick-ups and then one long 10 minute tempo run.
When I got back home I felt like I could've pushed a little harder or gone farther but that's ok. Right now, I want to hold back just a little. I don't want to go all out yet. It's too early.
So not a bad workout today: hard swim and good run. I may not be the fastest swimmer but as long as I keep showing up, it's alright with me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)